


Rain of Light, Souls Dropping; Fireflies in the Night

by decco6226



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Angst, Character Death, I tried hard, Lots of Angst, Slow Death, Struggle of Surviving, Suffering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 16:40:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20410954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decco6226/pseuds/decco6226
Summary: Emperor slowly dies from the Great Turf War Street Crash, and mourns the death of his brother.





	Rain of Light, Souls Dropping; Fireflies in the Night

_ June 21st, 2017 _

_ That was the night Emperor died. _

Emperor leaned stoop-shouldered against the hard steel door just outside the Grizzco. He sat on the concrete, both legs stretched out; he was burnt to a crisp by the sun, and had not washed himself for a month. But the color of Emperor’s emaciated cheeks was yet pale, sunken. His trousers were ripped, and he wore a decaying white muscle shirt; a month’s worth of sweat, dirt, and grime built up around it’s edges and stitches. His inky yellow tentacles soaked of sweat, yet was crusted by dirt and lice. 

Nobody dared look at him. 

Merciless onslaughts of diarrhea continued, he crossed back and forth to the toilet, once having crouched down his legs trembled in the act of rising, pressing his body against the steel, he stood, supporting himself with one hand on the wall he walked; ﬁnally with his back propped up against the flimsy steel door like a deﬂated balloon, he reached a state where he could no longer move his hips, and still the diarrhea attacked relentlessly, in an instant staining yellow the area around his bottom. The ﬂustered boy was overwhelmed with shame, his body unresponding to his desire to ﬂee, and with nothing else to do, he tried to conceal the color, raking together the little sand and dust on the ground to cover himself, but the circumference of his hands reach was limited, and inklings looking at him probably thought a once-rich war orphan crazed by hunger, playing with his own running shit.

The hunger was already gone, there was no more thirst, his chin lay heavily on his chest. Multiple pairs of different kinds of feet passed the boy, giving him no interest. But Emperor heard all the things the squids were whispering to each other. His ears worked, unlike his will. 

“Oh my, he’s so dirty!”

“Look’s dead to me.”

“Shameful, isn’t it. Can’t have the Octolings seeing this.”

His ears alone remained alive, distinguishing the various sounds around him. The yellow inked squid couldn’t tell what was real anymore. He could have sworn he heard the little taps of his younger brother Prince’s Milky Enperrials on the ground - but nothing was ever there.

“Mama!” The little squid had yelled in his head. 

He gave up. “What… day is it today…?” He mumbled to himself, and the eighteen year old fell to the rock. Weak breaths escaped his lungs, and a fly buzzed to his cheek. 

_ What day is it? What day is it? _

The fly buzzed away.

They say the last thing that Emperor muttered from his last breath was his brother’s name. 

Deep in the night of the 21st of June, Mask, a cyan inkling about the height of Emperor, who always wore a gas mask due to allergies, walked out of his shift from his nightly rounds of Salmonoids, and sighed at the teen’s body. Walking across the stone entryway of Mr. Grizz’s store, he set down his Carbon Roller Deco. 

“Another oneeeeeeee…” He said to himself tiredly. It was already eleven at night, and he didn’t want to deal with this. But if he let this stay outside overnight, the corpse would only rot, and Mr. Grizz would blame him as the previous worker to not carrying the war trash out.

He prodded the boy with a broomstick to check for signs of life, and when he found none to be left in the boy’s body, he bent down, and started to search his pockets. From the waistband of his lice-covered trousers, something clattered to the concrete. Picking it up, he observed a rusted red candy drops tin. The label had worn off, but he knew what they were, as they were sold in the only candy shop in town across the street, and sold them for 50 gold each. A small rattling sound came from within the can’s core. Curious, he tried to pull the cap off, yet it stood there as if it was attached to the can itself. Or maybe because it was rusted. 

He groaned, and looked behind him to another inkling behind him. Designer Headphones, a cyan inkling dressed in what he was named after shone his flashlight near the boy and his leader. Mask raised the tin as his friend approached. 

“What’s thisssssss?” The hisser asked.

“Don’t bother, just toss it.”

Mask sighed and shook the can again, listening to the small rattling inside, and motioned to Emperor. “This one’s going, too.” He explained. “Those blank eyes tell you it’s over…” Standing up, and fixing his Purple Camo LS, Cyan Team’s leader walked into the field, past the construction behind Crusty Sean’s, shaking that tin again and again, trying to guess what could be inside with the limited time he had.

When he got to the edge of the top of the street he stopped at the low cliff. The moonlight provided little light, but he knew the city well, and decided to toss it off the edge. Readying a pitcher's windup, he chucked it into the darkness as cicadas rang in the distance. 

The can flew for a second, then hit the small waist-high bushes below. It ricocheted off a stray rebar sticking out of the ground with a hollow clink, and flew again to the ground. The force of the impact to the hard dirt ground caused the cap to pop off. A white powder spilled out, the fragments of three small bones rolled out into the dirt. The remains belonged to the sixteen year old Prince, and there was silence besides the evening cicadas.

Little glowing balls of yellow sparked up in the grass, and started to hover. Starting with two, then three, and more. The fireflies kept adding to the open air every second,  until the ground turns orange as balls of yellow fire fly upwards into the black sky like a reverse rain, dancing in the blackness.

From amongst the yellow and orange grass and overgrown weeds, the head of a hunched down boy appeared, looking downwards. As the fireflies rose up, lighting the dark summer night, Prince looked up into the night sky, and at the orange rain around him. Yellow and tangerine light streaked his small face, and he gazed tiredly at the insects. Still hunched down, he slowly stood up in the bush and looked around, almost in a daze, until the small boy stood straight up. Prince was a sixteen year old, with sunny yellow tentacles like his brother, and large, caring eyes. He was dressed exactly like his big brother, except his clothing was a few sizes smaller. His feet contained a pair of Milky Enperrials as well.

Prince store at the corpse of his dead brother, and although he was still a sheltered squid, he knew immediately what had happened. He broke into a dash for his brother’s body, but as he only flinched to start running, a hand clamped down on his right shoulder. He stopped, and turned behind him, his big brother among the fireflies, standing tall and a gentle, prideful smile that assured him everything would be alright now… He turned around completely, a large smile on his face as he looked up to him. The teenager was no longer dirty, but dressed in his usual white attire, and the two really did look like brothers. 

Emperor nodded once, reassuring his smile. 

Bending down, the King secured and dusted off a shoulder the younger brother’s Milky Eminence Jacket, before bending down in the grass beside him. He grasped the candy tin lying in the dirt, and he stared at it. The rust runs clear, and the label clearly reads, “ _ Fruit Drops _ ”, accompanied by a picture of an assortment of fruit on it’s red label. Smiling, he passed it down to Prince. He takes it from his brother’s hand, and smiled, shaking the candy inside, and hugging it closely to his chest. 

They walk away together, hand in hand, as the fireflies lighten up the night into a calming orange and yellow around them.

And yet, only Emperor only could still remember what happened that month before...

The small package of skin and bone that was Prince sucked weakly on a Fruit Drop, lying on the bed in the storm shelter alleyway, clutching his teddy bear close. Although with no energy left to hold the stuffed animal, the arms and legs of the bear were rounder than Prince’s. He let out a weak groan of happiness, but continued to suck. 

Emperor walked in, and stopped to look at his little brother, being sure not to change his facial features or make sudden movements, as to make sure Prince wouldn’t realize how serious the situation was. “Sorry I’m so late, Prince. I’ll make you some rice.” He said apologetically while he set his bag down. 

Weak, shaky words escaped from Prince’s lips. “Up they go…” Prince didn’t move an inch, but rather lied completely still. “And down again…” Emperor store at him. “Oh… they stopped…”

“I bought us some chicken and eggs.” He said quickly, full of hope. Squatting down, he began to open his bag and unpack the contents. He reached in. “And also-” Emperor stopped and took a closer look at his brother. The Fruit Drops were finished a long time ago… what was he…?

He dashed over and picked up the rusted candy tin. Objects clattered inside, and he dumped the contents into his hand with hollow rattles. A green and pink marble clattered into his palm, and he store at them blankley. He quickly leaned Prince up, cradling him. “Prince, what’s that in your mouth!?” He put his fingers into the teenage boy’s dry mouth, and fished out the object gently: a blue marble. 

He was hallucinating…

“This is a marble! It isn’t a Fruit Drop!” Prince only store up to the ceiling. Sighing, Emperor gently set him back down on the lumpy mattress, and forced a smile for him. “I bought you something I know you like.” Placing the marbles into his pocket, he went back over to the bag and bent down to it again. 

He heard a little voice behind him. “Ni-san… Have one…” Emperor turned around. Prince smiled with chapped lips, and weakly set his hand down on the ground, a rock in his palm. He store blankly to Emperor.

“Prince. What’s…?”

“Rice balls…” He placed the rock down, and weakly moved another right beside the other rock. “I made them for you… here… have one…”

He had been eating rocks…

Emperor’s eyes shone with tears and fear, and his mouth hung open. 

“You don’t want them…?” And his arm hung there, still staring blankly.

“Prince…” Tears fell from his eyes quickly, his lips trembled, and he reached into the bag, and pulled out a small watermelon, freshly grown as Prince turned onto his back once again. “Look, it’s a watermelon.” He said, forcing a smile for Prince, and placing it beside him. “I didn’t steal it either.” He flipped open his pocket knife and cut a slice out. The contrasting color was unreal. Used to just rice all day, the bright pink and black seeds glowed mightily, and Emperor himself wanted to bite down into it. But he forced himself. 

Ripping off the tip of the slice he just cut, he brought it to Prince’s lips. “Here, have some.” At first, he didn’t take it. Emperor wanted to just yell, “ _ Eat eat eat _ ,” but paced himself. Hell, he would’ve cut his own finger and let him drink the blood. He would’ve even cut it off entirely for him to have the meat… But the youngest Drayton took the fruit into his mouth. Flavour and water splashed his mouth, and he smiled smally. 

“It’s yummy…”

Emperor smiled. Everything was going to be okay… He placed the slice into Prince’s palm and layed on the boy’s ribcage - there was no chest anymore. “Hold on, I’ll make you some rice gruel with eggs.” But before leaving, he ripped the watermelon in half, laying it beside the boy’s mattress. “I’ll leave the melon here for you.” 

Silence. 

“Okay?”

“Emperor… thank you…”

Emperor smiled. Everything  _ was  _ going to be okay… The teen picked up his bag, and went to cook, leaving Prince in his bed. Looking back once, he was out the door. 

Prince lied there, still.

Silence. 

_ Prince never woke up. _

~oO0Oo~

A grey sky. Wind blew violently through the trees, ripping off leaves and small twigs. Emperor dashed through the storm, his jacket blowing behind him. At night, Emperor crouched in the darkness of the house with Prince’s body over his knees, and even when he dozed off, he soon awoke, petting his little brother’s tentacles over and over, even pressing his cheek against his already cold one, and yet he did not cry. The wind howled, the leaves of the trees shook furiously, and in the midst of the storm he thought he heard Prince’s crying voice.

~oO0Oo~

The storm had passed by the following day. The sky, suddenly colored deeply with shades of autumn was filled with cloudless sunshine for June. Outside of the back alley of the Grizzco, the Inkling’s feet came out to the grass, and placed a basket down. “There, a special ration of charcoal.” He said. “You can cremate the child on a temple’s grounds. Undress the child, and use dry husks to start a good fire.” The shop keeper said with a smile as bright as the sunshine. 

Cod it was creepy…

Mr. Grizz breathed out a happy sigh, and looked to the sky. “What a beautiful day…”

~oO0Oo~

Emperor was crouched on the hill by the wishing well, beside the large basket with blue trim around it that had held their bedding. It was a clear day, with a bright blue sky, fluffy clouds, and sunshine, which, as poetic as it sounded, contrasted with the sorrow in Emperor’s heart. 

The birds chirped pleasantly as the eldest brother, dressed in his trousers, and a white undershirt, knelt by the basket. Thin, dirty hands picked up the well used, discarded handkerchief that belonged to his brother that he loved dearly, which lay on the grass. He also picked up the small drawstring bag the Prince owned, which held the little gold he had collected, as well as the few beanbags and marbles he owned. The dirty teen brought them into the basket, and the bag by his side. With a heavy heart, he brought the boys treasured teddy bear and the rusted candy tin from the grass, and placed them inside. He tucked his little brother’s stuffed toy under his right arm, which would clutch it against the ribs that showed through the skin and even the Milky Eminence Jacket he had on. He placed the rusted tin against his left chest, and then froze, and took the tin back, staring at it. Placing it down in his pocket, he reached over, and retrieved the basket’s top, and dragged it over softly. 

_ He had failed… _

Emperor Drayton held the basket’s lid to the side, above the basket’s bottom, and store at his younger brother for the very last time for about ten seconds, keeping Prince’s picture in his mind. His face was paper white, streaked with dirt and grime. His tentacles were messy, matted, and unkept. His eyes, which once contained so much life and happiness were sunken into his skull, and yet, even though his brother was gone forever, and suffered greatly, he looked very… calm… peaceful. 

Not taking another second to look at Prince’s dead face, the older brother slowly placed the lid on, and concealed his brother inside. As he had been told, the teen spread the shells of soybeans, lined up the dead branches, and emptying out the charcoal, he placed the basket on top. Three strikes of a wooden match, he transferred the small flame to a piece of kindling he held between his fingers, and without hesitation, he tossed it in. 

The shells split with a crackling sound, and blazed up while Emperor watched the smoke floating fitfully upward, and one line of smoke with great force shot up to the sky. And Emperor, adjusting his form, store into the flames that ate up his brother… that ate up his family…

And yet, he did not cry, but only sat there. 

_ He had failed to protect his brother... _

As the day drew near it’s end, the charcoal moaning lowly flickered red in the wind. The sky started to turn pink into sunset, and the flames were still roaring, but less mightily. And when even ate the sky and turned it blue, the fireflies rose up out of the grass, providing much light into Inkopolis. To Emperor, they were no longer to be caught, because like this, Prince wouldn’t be so lonely. The fireflies would be at his side. Flying up, flying down, now flying to the side, and it wouldn’t be long till the fireflies would be gone, but Prince will go up to Heaven with those fireflies.

In the middle of this night, it was still quite dark, and Emperor could not see into the pit where the fire was, so he lay beside it, staring at the rain of glowing dots that his brother was with. 

He took a break into the night to eat his last riceball, staring into the distance. The next day, he planned to collect the white bones, like fragments of alabaster broken into fine pieces, and he would walk away from the well. 

_ “The next day, I put some of Prince’s ashes into the candy tin, and climbed down the hill… I never went back to the shelter.” _

~oO0Oo~

Prince’s voice called in the distance.  _ “Ni-chan!” _

Emperor sat on the bench in a red and orange colored grass, dressed in his Milky White Eminence Jacket and matching shoes. He held the candy tin by his side, and he looked up towards the voice as fireflies danced around him.

Prince, hunched down in the grass, stood up, and smiled at Emperor, and caused him to happily run into his direction through the black and red grass, his arms flailing everywhere happily, fireflies leaping out of the grass where his shoes hit like splashing in rain puddles, and the yellow fire danced too.

Retrieving his teddy bear from Emperor’s lap, he crawled up onto the bench beside him, and kicked his dangling legs, looking up to his brother and smiling. His face was clean, joyful, his clothes were new… he happily took the candy tin from Emperor when his brother handed it to him, and happily swung his legs and bounced on his bottom. 

“Time for bed, okay?”

He hummed a ‘yes’, and rested his head on Emperor’s thigh, and instantly fell asleep with a smile on his face. But the eldest looked forward into the distance with a frown. While his brother slept with a smile, Emperor stood up with a frown, looking at the lights that were on in the Inkopolis city that night. The same city that had cremated his body along with twenty or thirty-hundred other war orphans that had died due to malnutrition at Inkopolis as unsurvived souls. Forgotten in a world in which nobody ever cared about them. 


End file.
